Recollections
by bootybertholdt
Summary: Regardless of time, place, and circumstance, I will always love you.-SasuSaku Month 2013
1. Holding Hands

**_Summary_:** Regardless of time, place, and circumstance, I will always love you.

_**Notes:**_This collection of one-shots is my contribution to SasuSaku Month 2013. Thanks to my darling face, tessaiga, for pointing out all of my mistakes. And thanks to anyone who reads this.

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**Holding Hands**

On a small table dimly glowed an orange lamp, causing long shadowy tendrils to flee from the light and stretch across the walls. With their dark and fleeting fingers, the shadows danced over the wide expanse, falling on a mess of dark hair framing a face relaxed with sleep. The sound of the man's slow, even breaths coupled with the ticking of the clock filled the room.

With a slam of the front door, Sasuke abruptly jolted up from his nap on the couch, grasping at air in search for his kusanagi. He twisted his head in time to see a flurry of pink hair whip around the corner. Hearing Sakura begin to haphazardly toss her belongings so that they banged against the walls and slammed into the dining room table, Sasuke relaxed from his stance, deciding that he should see what was wrong. With a sigh, he removed himself from the sofa to get up and stop the girl in the next room from breaking anything valuable.

"Sakura," Sasuke began, seeing the girl flop down in a chair, "What's wrong?"

"I really don't want to talk about it," the kunoichi curtly replied, burying her face in her hands.

Sasuke settled down in the chair next to her and stared at her hidden face, eyes narrowed in confusion.

After a number of tics from the clock on the wall, Sakura spread her fingers to sneak a look at the man before her and was met with an intense stare. Underneath the scrutiny of those dark eyes, the young medic's walls shattered and her frustrations poured out.

"I'm so sorry, Sasuke! I know we were supposed to go out to eat tonight and you probably had something planned, but the hospital was so chaotic! So many things went wrong and there was so much paperwork that had to be done. I couldn't even get it all finished there, so I had to bring all this home, and now I have another sleepless night ahead of me. I'm just so tired and all I want to do is sleep, but I can't because so many people rely on me and—"

Sasuke stopped her rant with a gentle stroke of her hair.

"Sakura, I don't care that we couldn't go out to eat," Sasuke said, running his fingers through her pink locks. "I understand that you're busy. The hospital has been particularly hectic these past couple of weeks, what with the chuunin exams about to take place. Just take the night off and I'll make something here."

"But Sasuke, I can't just ignore these things! If I don't finish everything, then the hospital won't be running as efficiently and then patients won't be getting their proper care. And if everything is disorganized and the patients don't receive the correct medicine, then their conditions will worsen which could result in death! I'll probably be fired from working at the hospital and then Shishou will be so disappointed in me. I'll be known as the medic who failed!" Sakura exclaimed in one breath.

Staring at the woman in disbelief, Sasuke replied, "Sakura, you're being ridiculous. I doubt one night of not finishing your paperwork will cause all that. Do you _honestly_ believe that a few unsigned papers will kill someone?"

"It's not absurd! That could actually happen, especially if the person is in critical condition! My ineptitude could easily result in someone's death, and I just can't have any more blood on my hands!" Sakura choked out, hiding her face in her arms.

Realization dawning on him, Sasuke softly grabbed Sakura's chin and guided her head so that she was looking at him.

"Was there another death today?"

And with those words, the exhausted medic completely broke down and began sobbing uncontrollably.

"Yes! And it was all my fault, Sasuke! I'm not strong enough! Even after all these years dedicated to training, I'm _still_ not strong enough!"

Sasuke gently pulled Sakura's shaking form away from the table and onto his lap so that her face was pressed into the crook of his neck. He placed his hand on the small of her back and rubbed soothing circles into her skin.

"Sakura, no matter how strong you are, you can't stop death. It's not your fault; you did the best that you could."

He pressed his lips to the crown of her head, waiting for her body-wrenching sobs to cease. When only her soft sniffles broke through the thick silence, Sasuke eased Sakura up and guided her down the hallway.

Opening the door to her bedroom, Sasuke helped Sakura through the threshold and towards her bed. After Sakura had lain down, Sasuke sat on the edge of her bed and brushed strands of hair from her face.

"Try to get some sleep."

Feeling his weight on the bed disappearing, Sakura shot her hand out to grasp his wrist.

"Can you stay in here for a bit?" Sakura asked timidly, eyes drooping with sleepiness.

Without a word in response, Sasuke walked around the bed to lie down next to the medic. He firmly took hold of her hand and wrapped his other arm protectively around her. Grasping Sakura's clenched fist, he began to rub her knuckles soothingly, coaxing her into sleep. Closing his eyes, he was lulled into unconsciousness by the sound of Sakura's even breathing.

Creeping into the room through a sliver in the curtains, the wan light from the moon softly illuminated the sleeping figures' intertwined hands. With each fall of their chests, the steady breathing of the young shinobi filled the room, accompanied by the staccato ticking of the clock.


	2. Bugs

**Summary: **Maybe having two boys as roommates wasn't such a good idea.

**Notes: **Once again I have to thank Zoey for reading this about 100 times and helping me prune it until there was nothing left untouched. She's the bomb diggity and you should all check her out. And of course, thanks to anyone who reads this!

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**Bugs**

"Damn it!"

"Seriously?!"

"What the hell?!"

Slowly blinking sleep from tired green eyes, Sakura unstuck her face from the anatomy textbook and stretched out her arms. Feeling the satisfying crack of her sore joints, she let out a low, drawn out groan.

"Dude, knock it off! You suck!"

Standing up to relieve her limbs of stiffness, Sakura decided to go and see what was making one of her roommates protest like a disgruntled pre-teen. Trudging into the living room, she saw the tousled dark locks of Sasuke, who was currently hunched over a controller and yelling into a headpiece.

Flopping down on the couch, Sakura let her body fall into Sasuke's left side— just to annoy him—and sat there in a trance, occasionally tuning in to hear Sasuke arguing with the other players. A low grumble from her midsection resonated in the room, and caused Sasuke to turn to her with a raised brow.

"Don't look at me like that, doofus. I'm going to make dinner. What do you want?" Absentmindedly combing her fingers through her hair, Sakura watched as blood splattered the screen and the character slumped onto the ground.

"What an ass," Sasuke muttered under his breath. "Whatever you want. I don't care." His eyes didn't leave the television screen for a second. "Actually, I kind of want grilled cheese."

"Ugh, between you and Naruto, we never eat anything healthy," Sakura snapped back while getting up from the shockingly orange couch—

Naruto had bought it at a flea market, much to his roommates' chagrin. "You're both going to die very early, very unhealthy deaths, just so you know."

Vaguely acknowledging the grunt from the preoccupied man, Sakura made her way to the kitchen, kicking large piles of Naruto's clothing out of the way. Standing on her toes to peer into the cabinet, she pushed aside the many containers of macaroni and cheese that her obnoxiously loud roommate had horded, looking for a box of her whole-wheat pasta. With a sound of triumph, Sakura strained to grab the correct box but froze mid-reach, whipping her head to the right.

She could have sworn that she just heard something move, but no one but her and Sasuke were here. Grabbing a spatula for protection, Sakura creeped over to the noise and tilted her head to peer into the corner of the kitchen. Her eyes widened in shock, and she began to slowly back away.

"Um… S-Sasuke…" Sakura stuttered.

"SASUKE! AHHHHH!"

Tearing into the living room, Sakura ran straight into Sasuke, who had sprung up in response to the scream. In an effort to stop from falling, she latched onto her roommate's upper arms, but instead of steadying herself, she managed to cause Sasuke to topple over too.

Landing on top of Sasuke's firm chest, the young woman groaned, but quickly propped herself up to scan the floor of anything brown and furry.

"What the hell, Sakura?" Sasuke grumbled, wrapping his arm around the girl to remove her from his chest, however when he turned his head to look at her, he found her face inches from his own. Feeling the back of his neck heating up, the disgruntled man hurriedly nudged her to the side and straightened up.

Frantically scrambling to get her feet away from the edge of the seat, Sakura turned her wide eyes towards her dark roommate in a plea for help.

"No, no, no, Sasuke, you don't understand! The tarantula got out!"

With an expression of horror, the young man turned towards his female roommate and quickly lifted his legs off of the floor and onto her lap. The two leaned forward with bated breath, eyes darting around the room in the hopes of spotting some movement.

Cowering behind Sasuke's broad, defined shoulders and using his long legs to cover her own, Sakura clutched at the back of his shirt and nervously peered around Sasuke's warm body, trying to spot the disgusting, hairy lump that Naruto called a pet.

"Do you see it, Sasuke?"

"I _think _I do…"

"Then go trap it with a cup or something!" The perturbed girl jerkily pushed him, causing him to almost fall off the couch.

Throwing out his arms to stop from falling, Sasuke whipped his head in her direction. "Hell no, I'm not doing that!"

Beating on the dark man's chest, Sakura yelled back, "But Sasuke, we can't stay trapped on the couch all day! Go. Get. The. Freaking. Spider!"

"There's no way I'm getting anywhere near that thing! We're going to stay like this until dumb ass Naruto comes home."

"But I'm hungry," Sakura whined, slumping back to hide completely behind Sasuke.

Turning towards her with a smirk, he placed his hands on either side of Sakura, successfully trapping her. Leaning in dangerously close to the woman's parted lips, Sasuke drawled out, "You could always eat the spider."

Blushing furiously, Sakura opened her mouth for a retort but was stopped by the opening of the front door. In the threshold stood Naruto, arms full of ramen packages and cheese.

"Oh, sorry. Am I interrupting something?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow and a devious grin.

Snarling, Sasuke turned his head to glare at the blond, arms still on either side of their female roommate.

"Naruto, your disgusting, sorry excuse for a pet is out roaming the house! Go get the damn thing!" Lunging across Sasuke's lap, Sakura grabbed one of her textbooks from the coffee table and flung it at her blond roommate, who bounded forward in a mess of falling groceries.

"Hey, it's about time that you guys got toge— wait. What?! Did you guys hurt my little Bug Buddy?" Naruto bellowed as he dashed into the house, searching for the tarantula.

Quickly returning with a large brown lump securely perched on his shoulder, Naruto glanced at his roommates and slyly remarked, "You guys don't have to sit so close anymore, unless you want me to leave you to your cuddling."

Awkwardly disentangling their limbs with plenty of stuttered exclamations, the two rose from their intimate position and stalked towards Naruto, murderous intent glinting in their eyes.


	3. Recipe

**Summary:** Making dinner shouldn't be this much trouble.

**Notes: **Thanks to my lovely Zoey, like always. What's your favorite way to say red wines in a German accent? And you know the deal, thanks to everyone who reads this!

This is a continuation of Chapter 2: Bugs.

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**Recipe**

With hands full of grocery bags and a cellphone nestled in between her head and shoulder, Sakura made her way back to her shared apartment.

"No, Ino, he didn't kiss me. Naruto came home right as he was leaning in." Fishing her key out of her pocket, the pink haired woman responded into her phone, "But it was _definitely_ a good thing that he came when he did. That freaky tarantula grosses me out and Sasuke was too much of a sissy to get it."

Kicking open the front door, Sakura was met with a war zone. Hearing the arrival of his female roommate, Sasuke's dark locks emerged from underneath a pile of pillows and blankets in front of the doorway, a frown marring his face. Across the room and behind the couch hid Naruto, clutching a tasseled pillow as if it were a bomb.

"Uh, yeah. I'll have to call you back, Ino. Dumb and Dumber decided to destroy the living room today."

Putting her bags down, Sakura cocked her hip and stared at her roommates with a fiery gaze.

"So," she began. "Having fun?"

"Uhh, well Sakura-chan, you know," Naruto stammered out. "Boys will be boys, right?"

Pinching the bridge of her nose, the petite girl took long, drawn-out breaths, trying to calm herself.

Sensing his roommate's impending explosion of anger, the blond quickly jumped up from his place on the ground and towards the bags of food, hoping to distract her.

"What's all this for, Sakura-chan? Are you making us a special dinner tonight?' Naruto began to search through the various containers of ingredients. "Why the hell is all this stuff so green?"

"Because you both eat the worst crap possible and I told you that we were going to start eating some healthier food, remember?" Sakura replied with a huff.

"But I thought you were kidding!" Naruto whined, slumping onto the couch in despair. "Some of that stuff in there looks like it should be fed to rabbits, not humans."

"You can't just eat greasy fast food for every single meal! I've told you a thousand times that you're going to die an early death like that. All that grease will pile up in your bodies, and then you'll be left with clogged arteries and heart attacks." Picking up some of the grocery bags, Sakura dropped them into her other roommate's hands. "Besides, I thought we could have some bonding time and make dinner together for a change."

"You _honestly_ trust Naruto in the kitchen?" Sasuke said while placing the groceries on the counter. "He can't even make ramen on the stove, and you want him to make a whole dinner where he has to actually cook?"

"He'll have to learn someday. I'm not always going to be here to feed him," she grunted, struggling to reach a pan in the tallest cabinet.

Stretching out as much as she could, Sakura froze when she felt a warm body pressed against her back. Seeing long fingers clasp around the pan, she followed the hand until it disappeared from her vision. The small girl hesitantly turned and was met with Sasuke's form towering over her.

"I'll have to get you a stool, shorty," Sasuke teased with a smirk tilting his lips.

Feeling her face heating up, Sakura quickly grabbed the pan and headed to the stove. "Go get the aprons, doofus."

Coming back with three aprons, Sasuke tossed one at Naruto's disgruntled face and put the other two on the counter.

"Let's go, idiot. The faster we do this, the faster we eat."

Dragging his body into the kitchen, Naruto grumbled, "I don't want to eat this any faster. I'm not a damn bunny."

"You need to stop complaining! You'll probably love this recipe." Hearing muffled giggling, Sakura whipped around toward her blond roommate. "What are you doing? That's not how you wear an apron."

Naruto finished wrapping the cloth around his face and tied the back in a little bow. "Heh! Look, guys. I'm Kakashi!"

Slipping his own apron over his head, Sasuke glanced at the blond and muttered, "Idiot."

"Alright! Let's make this rabbit food! What should I do first, Sakura-chan?"

"I'll have you chop up the spinach and Sasuke can start the rice."

Bounding towards the cutlery drawer, the loud boy snatched up the biggest knife and began brandishing it.

"Naruto, if you cut anyone, I swear I'll kill you," the petite girl warned, rubbing seasoning over some meat.

"Oh, please! My knife skills are the best! I'm like a ninja!" Naruto began to viciously chop the leaves of spinach. "See? I'm already done with this job. What's next?"

"You're such a show-off. Get the spinach and put it in a pan with some oil so that I can begin to sauté it." Sakura pointed at the olive oil already placed on the counter. "Don't use too much though."

"I have no clue what sauté means, but sure!"

Far too obnoxious for such a small room, Naruto jumped forward and crashed into the bottle of oil. Picking himself up from the floor, the blond looked down to see a large grease spot on his shirt.

"Are you kidding me? This is the shirt that Hinata-chan likes!" Quickly pulling his shirt over his head, Naruto dashed out of the kitchen. "I'll be right back, guys. I need to change!"

"What an idiot. He's going to mess up everything if he doesn't stop flailing around everywhere." While prodding the sizzling meat with a spatula, Sakura, used to the aroma of the spices on the meat, was suddenly overcome by the smell of fresh rain and sandalwood.

Turning slightly, she was met with the sight of Sasuke's defined bicep. Feeling her face heat up again, the petite girl quickly ducked her head down and tried to face the counter, but was stopped by Sasuke's other arm wrapping around her waist.

Leaning down until his face was level with hers, the tall man smirked. "I'm sure it'll taste fine. You'll be able to save it somehow."

"Sasuke, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

Was it just Sakura or did the room just get warmer? What with the oven, and the stove, and Sasuke's body.

Gripping her waist firmly, Sasuke pulled Sakura towards him and pressed his lips against hers. Moving his hand from the counter, he brought it up to cradle her cheek as he deepened the kiss.

Feeling extremely lightheaded, Sakura wound her arms around her roommate's neck and pulled him down further.

"WHAT THE HELL, GUYS!"

Pulling away with a light peck to the girl's lips, Sasuke looked up to glare at Naruto, who was gaping at them from the hallway.

"I WAS LITERALY GONE FOR TWO SECONDS AND YOU GUYS DECIDE IT'S THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY TO START MAKING OUT OVER OUR FOOD?"

With flushed cheeks and glazed eyes, Sakura responded, "You were the one who didn't even want to eat this."

"NOPE. YOU KNOW WHAT? I'M SICKING BUG BUDDY ON YOU." The disturbed man quickly dashed towards his room.

Her eyes widened in shock as she looked up at the man still tightly holding on to her.

"We have to trap Naruto in his room! Or kill the damn monster!"

"Or we could always hide on the couch for awhile," Sasuke replied, lips quirked up on one side.

"BUG BUDDY'S COMING TO ATTACK!"


	4. Paradise

_**Summary:** _In a world where everything is designed to kill you, you must have unfaltering trust in your team.

**Notes:** So this is my last prompt for SasuSaku Month 2013, but that doesn't mean that I'm done writing. I'll definitely start a chaptered story which will probably take place in one of these AUs from this collection. This story was somewhat inspired by the movie _After Earth_ (and any other sci-fi, everything is out to get us story). A huge thanks to my wonderfully bootilicious beta, Zoey. She took the time to critique my horrible writing even while rehearsing all day everyday. And once again, thanks for reading!

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**Paradise**

There was fire everywhere.

The red flames danced across the room, causing walls to collapse in a whirlwind of smoke and debris. The large mahogany cupboard in the corner crashed to the floor, pieces of polished china shattering on to the wood.

A stifled sob could be heard under a pile of heavy blankets on the small bed. Flames flickered around sturdy bedposts, threatening to burn it down.

Hurried footsteps resounded in the burning room and stopped right in front of the pile of covers. Ripping the blankets off of the shaking figure underneath, the blonde woman quickly lifted the young girl into her arms and carefully rushed her way out of the destroyed room.

"Alright, honey, just stay calm. We'll get out of here. Daddy's making a path for us right now." The blonde woman raised her hand to cradle her daughter's trembling form.

Hearing the soothing words, the young girl buried her face into her mother's neck, tightening her hold around the woman.

Seeing a large fallen plank in the way, the blonde set her daughter down so that she could climb over the piece of wood and then hoist her daughter over it. However, staggering over, the woman was met with the crimson gaze of two fierce eyes.

Green eyes narrowed in a defiant glare.

"Honey, mommy's going to ask you to go under this piece of wood and run straight for the door, okay?"

The hungry flames were starting to inch towards the doorway.

"B-but—"

"Just do it, please, darling. Just keep running until you find someone, okay? Mommy will protect you."

The woman could feel the scalding heat on the back of her neck. The fire was getting closer.

"But Mommy, what's happening?"

"Go on the count of three, darling.

One.

Two.

Three!"

The young girl easily slipped underneath the wood and sprinted for the exit, breaths coming in huffs. Looking back, she saw her mother crouched down low, preparing herself for the attack.

"RUN, SAKURA! GET OUT OF HERE!"

"SAKURA!"

"SAKURA-CHAN! WE'VE GOT OUR FIRST ASSIGNMENT THIS MORNING!"

Squirming her body around under the soft sheets, the disgruntled girl quickly forced her eyes open, expecting to feel the pressing heat of the fire on her face. She clutched at her pink locks in frustration and let out a loud groan.

"Wake up, sleepy head! I want to eat breakfast before we go whoop some ass on the surface today."

"Go away," the petite girl hoarsely replied before burrowing her face deeper into the pillow. Ah, there was nothing better than sleep.

Muffled whispers of "You try to wake her up", followed by a few loud smacks resonated in the room, preventing the girl from falling back asleep. Anger rising, Sakura tossed her blankets to the side and shot up to glare at the two boys in front of her.

"Why the _hell_ are you in my room at the crack of dawn? And your answer better be good because if not, I will tie you to the ceiling and leave you hanging there until I'm well-rested and ready to get up."

"Sakura-chan, did you forget? We were assigned our first mission above ground!" Grabbing a pencil from his teammate's desk, the smiling blond tossed it into the air only to catch it with his other hand.

"Oh my god, no. I'm not going. You two go without me. Tell Kakashi- sensei that I'm sick or something. I don't care." Flopping her head back onto the pillow, Sakura grabbed her covers and pulled them above her head. "Good night, guys."

The quiet Uchiha in the corner softly padded towards the stubborn female and yanked the sheets completely off the bed.

"Get dressed. We have to leave."

"UCHIHA! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

"I can't wait to finally go above ground! I've heard that it's super pretty up there. Shikamaru told me that there are trees and rivers and flowers and so many other amazing things!" Arms behind his head, the grinning blond walked up the stairs backwards so that he could face his two teammates. "Hey, Sakura-chan, you lived above ground, right? Do you remember anything about it?"

"Nope. I was taken down here at a young age. All I know is that the crazy people who want to die very painful deaths live on the surface." She pushed a few strands of pink hair behind her ear. "Don't get too excited, Naruto. It's really dangerous up there."

"Ahhhh, that's what all those years of training were for, Sakura-chan! We can handle anything the surface throws at us, right bastard?"

"I know Sakura and I can, but you didn't pay attention in class half the time, so I'm not convinced about you." The dark-haired man tilted his lips up in a smirk. "You might want to turn around. We're at the gates."

Whipping around, Naruto bounded up the last couple of steps and landed right in front of the guards.

"Hello, good sirs! We're ready to go above ground and show 'em who's boss!"

"Good morning, Team Seven. First time on the surface I take it? The blond seems a bit too excited to have any experience." The guard glanced at his clipboard and then back up at the young team.

"Hey! We're obviously super amazing since we get to go above ground. And what do you do all day?" With squinted eyes, Naruto jabbed his pointer finger into the guard's chest.

"I protect everyone from any surprise attacks. On a daily basis too."

"Yeah, well…" the blond pointedly looked away from the guard, suddenly immensely interested in the texture of the wall. "I'm gonna become Commander one day and then I'll be stronger than everyone! Including you!"

"Yes, yes. I'm sure you will, and while you're at it, you'll become friends with all of the man-eating monsters above ground and then you'll sign a treaty." The guard let out a long sigh, looking at his clipboard once again. "Alright, everything is ready for you. If you'd all just step onto separate platforms, we'll teleport you up."

Naruto bolted towards the nearest platform and yelled, "Alright! Let's get this sucker started!"

Once the other two members of Team Seven stepped onto their platforms, the guard walked over to the control panel and pushed the launch button.

"Be careful up there. It looks beautiful, but it's dangerous."

Before Naruto could throw a remark at the guard, he felt a strong force pulling him in every direction. Frantically looking around, the blond saw a shimmering light all around his body until everything went black.

With a thud, the blue-eyed boy landed in a heap of clothes, weapons, and leather. Two seconds later, and he was joined by his groaning teammates sprawled on the ground.

"Ugh, what the hell? They never told us in the academy that teleporting was so damn painful," the girl complained, eyes squinting towards the bright sun. Suddenly the light was blocked by a hand, which she took with a grateful "Thanks, Sasuke-kun."

Hoisting the medic up with one hand, the dark-haired boy took in his surroundings with a turn of his head.

"We should probably head for the trees. We need to take cover before anything finds us out here."

"Ahhh, just relax a little bit, bastard. This is the first time we've ever seen the sun! It's so bright!"

"It's too bright, idiot. We can't see shit, and it makes us even more visible for any predator. Let's go to the forest." Shielding his eyes with his hand, Sasuke swiveled around to locate any potential dangers.

Fixing her backpack laden with medical supplies, Sakura set her eyes on her brighter teammate and said, "He's right, Naruto. Let's get going, and try to stay quiet. I don't really want to die."

"Wow, this place is super pretty. Look at all these flowers!" Naruto crouched down to peer down at a clump of purple hyacinths. "And they smell so much better than that manufactured floral crap we have underground."

"Idiot, how many times do I have to tell you? Those flowers could be poisonous and knock you out." Sasuke whipped his foot out at his stooping teammate.

"Or kill you," Sakura added, throwing a punch at the blond's shoulder.

"You guys are so abusive," Naruto whined, rubbing his assaulted limbs. "It's gonna be so scary when you finally get married."

"Naruto!" Sakura jerked her reddening face towards him. "What the hell?"

"What, Sakura-chan? You think I haven't noticed all this sexual tension all these years?" Straightening up, Naruto stared at his pink-haired teammate with a serious expression. "You guys just need to jump each other already. It's giving me a headache."

"NARUTO!"

"Shut up, you two!" Sasuke snapped at his two grappling teammates.

Dropping her arms from the headlock she had Naruto in, Sakura stepped closer to her the dark-haired boy and said "What is it, Sasuke-kun? Did you hear something?"

Before he could open his mouth in a reply, a rustle in the bushes to the left broke the muffled quiet of the forest.

The three young cadets dropped into battle-ready positions. Holding their breaths so as to not make any noise, they scanned the surrounding area with trained eyes. Inching closer together, the team formed a triangle, backs facing inward.

The forest was a bit too calm for comfort. Nothing moved except for a few leaves touched by the slight breeze, and an eerie silence blanketed the grove. The many birds that had been squawking not a minute ago could no longer be heard, further raising the suspicion that something was out there. And that something was looking to kill.

Suddenly a large hairy form leaped from the underbrush and pounced right in front of Sasuke. Its tawny coat rippled in the golden sunlight streaming down from the canopy. Lethal fangs bared, the monster snarled at the Uchiha, a low growl ripping through its chest.

"SHIT! SHIT! IT'S A FANGED RANDURA!"

Grabbing on to Sakura's forearm, the Uchiha bolted away from the monstrous feline, looking behind to make sure Naruto was right in tow.

Team Seven bounded through the oppressive forest, breaths becoming labored and legs growing heavy. Twigs scratching at their faces, they jumped over a decaying fallen tree and were met with the edge of a cliff. Whipping their heads to peer into the forest, the three cadets saw the muscled feline barreling towards them, strides long and steady.

Sharing a quick glance, the three steeled themselves and jumped straight into the river below them.

Sakura's pink head broke through the river's surface and she opened her mouth in a gasp for air.

"Sasuke-kun! Naruto! Where are you?!"

Not far from the girl, bright blond and dark black broke through the white frothy waves of the water. Panting, the three cadets swam toward the shore with difficultly, laden down by their wet clothes and supplies.

Making it to the rocky shore first, Sasuke suddenly felt impossibly weak and crashed to the ground in a groaning heap. Grasping at his throbbing arm, he peered through cloudy eyes to see a pink blur rapidly approaching.

"Sasuke-kun, what's wrong?!" Sakura dropped down next to fallen boy, snatching at the medical bag on her back. Cradling his pale face between small hands, Sakura peered into his unfocused eyes. "Can you see me at all?"

The Uchiha narrowed his eyes, attempting to focus on the panicked face in front of him. "I can't see shit and my arm's throbbing." He lifted his limb so that his female teammate could inspect it. "I think something bit me."

"Shit!" Sakura swore violently, tenderly lifting Sasuke's sleeve to better see the purpling wound. "That's definitely poisoned. Naruto, get me the bandages and antidote injections in my bag."

Snatching the backpack from the ground, the blond ripped it open and haphazardly tossed things around. Spotting the desired items, he let out a triumphant yell and shoved them under the medic's nose.

"Alright, Sasuke-kun, I need you to try and focus on me, okay? Listen to my voice." She ripped the tattered sleeve from his muscular bicep. "Just don't fall asleep, whatever you do, please."

Quickly cleaning his arm off with a handkerchief, Sakura popped the lid off of a needle with her clenched teeth and placed it right above his wound.

"I'm so sorry, Sasuke-kun, but this is going to hurt really badly."

Feeling a sharp pain shoot through his already throbbing limb, Sasuke let out a guttural cry and collapsed into Sakura's arms. Shaking from the pain, the dark-haired boy focused on steadying his breathing and the nimble fingers stroking his hair. Cracking his eyes open, he saw pink strands of hair framing a green gaze, glossy with unshed tears.

Lifting his calloused hand up to stroke the girl's cheek, Sasuke weakly smirked and croaked out, "Annoying."

Stifling a sob, the medic tightened her hold on the dark-haired cadet and buried her face into his chest.

With his arms behind his head and his back pressing against his sleeping bag, Naruto admired the many twinkling constellations in the black velvet sky. The numerous white dots, forming beautiful and intricate shapes, lit up the dark expanse in a magnificent display of nature. However, the light from the thousands of stars was nothing compared to the gentle light of the moon.

Looking over at his two teammates, Naruto noticed that their sleeping bags were closer than usual. Sakura was probably paranoid about Sasuke dying in his sleep or something.

"It's kind of cold, right?" Naruto threw a sly glance towards the couple. "But I guess you guys aren't that cold since you're all snuggled up. I wish I had Hinata-chan here so I wouldn't feel like such a third wheel."

"Idiot, shut up. You're going to wake Sakura up."

Rolling around towards the boys, the medic grabbed her blankets and pulled them up to her chin. "I actually can't fall asleep."

Turning bright blue eyes towards his female teammate, the blond scrunched his face up and replied, "Why not, Sakura-chan? Are you afraid some bugs are gonna crawl in your hair or something?"

The pink-haired girl buried her face deeper into her blankets and faintly mumbled, "No. More like that Randura is gonna come back." She paused, flicking her eyes toward the perfect planes of Sasuke's face. "Or that something is going to happen to Sasuke-kun while I'm asleep."

Tiredly angling his body so that he was facing Sakura, the Uchiha extended an arm out to run his fingers over her cheek. "Nothing's going to happen. I'm fine now."

Grabbing his slender fingers, the girl closed her eyes and let out a long sigh.

"You know, even though everything up here wants to kill us, it's still pretty nice."

"Yeah, it's almost like paradise."


End file.
